An endangered gorilla has been shot dead after a 4-yo fell into its zoo enclosure

[AdrenalineFudge]

Why the fuck has this happened... again - to another endangered species?

A little boy fell into an enclosure and the zoo staff decided the best course of action was to shoot the gorilla dead.

I'm not even sure who I'm most angry at. This should not have happened in the first place.

Agree

Accidents happen yes, but small children are NOT known for their art of falling into enclosed spaces of endangered animals!

Link

Do you think they were wrong to shoot the gorilla?

Try watching the news HacketFucker2

he isn't from an endangered species

the child was being dragged around

they had to do something

this is what happens in open enclosure zoos

I feel sure it broke the staff's heart to kill him.

They could not let the boy die, though.

It is a terribly distressing story, isn't it?

HackerFucker22 *

"The zoo staff decided the best course of action was to shoot the gorilla dead."

Whilst I'm sure the best thing would have been to have it so the four year old couldn't fall in, it sounds like you're suggesting they acted inappropriately, given the child had fallen in.

Whilst badly behaved four year olds are in no danger of becoming a rare species, surely the zookeepers did the right thing, given the circumstances?

It's all over mainstream news sites and tv news. The story makes me really sad. The gorilla grabbed the child and swept him across the water but then just seemed interested in him and wasn't doing any harm in the video I saw. Of course they didn't show you the part where the gorilla was shot, so we can't know the full story.

It doesn't look like the gorilla was even harming the child.

There must have been an alternative to killing the animal.

Aside from the fact I bloody hate zoos animal prisons it was the fault of the parents who should have been watching a four year old who had been expressing a strong interest in jumping in the water, and clearly inadequate fencing. Poor kid and poor gorilla.

Surely you can't think it was wrong to shoot the gorilla?

How did the boy manage to get in I wonder. The video wasn't too clear at the beginning but the gorilla was flinging the boy around. Was touching when the gorilla was being gentle. I have mixed feelings about it really, imagine if the boy had been killed, it could have happened in an instant, would you take the chance if it were your child, I wouldn't.

Idiot parent for not keeping child safe.
Keepers had no option I think.

Who here knows about Jambo at Jersey Zoo (now Durrell) ? He protected a child who fell into the enclosure until keepers could remove the other gorillas.

In this case,it was the right thing to do...A child fell in to the enclosure,what would you do if it was your child.Let your child be killed or kill teh Gorilla.

Did they not have another option.....tranquilliser dart maybe?

We've been discussing it here

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/in_the_news/2648765-4-year-old-boy-falls-into-gorilla-enclosure-at-US-zoo

Page 4 has a video on it that shows how rough the gorilla really was being. Most of videos shown in the media were edited

This is such a tragic story. Utterly devestating that that beautiful animal was destroyed but there was really no choice. That is very, very hard to swallow.

I just hope that parents aren't the type to try and sue the zoo for damages.

OK sorry he is endangered the first story said he was not!

What's your AIBU question?

I think they were wrong to have a hole in the fence hat the child could crawl through.

I also thing the mother was wrong to let her child go through the hole in the fence. As a parent I thought that I needed to take care of my kids always.
A gorilla is dead because of a hole in a fence and a mother not watching her child. I can't blame the people who shot it as they needed to save the child but the situation should never have arisen.

I can't understand why tranquillisers weren't used, surely the gorilla didn't have to die? I don't know much about these things though so maybe tranquillisers were not an option.

This is the fault of the zoo and the parents, it shouldn't be possible for someone to fall into an enclosure and the parents should have been more watchful.

Poor gorilla :(

Do tranquilisers take a while to work? That shoukd have been the better option. From what I've read the child had to do quite a bit of climbing and scrambling and traverse a bit of a no man's land between the first barrier and the bit where he was able to fall into the enclosure, how did nobody see him or get to him? It's all very tragic, as it seems the choice boiled down to him or the animal, and despite humans not being endangered, there's no way anyone could have excused choosing the gorillas life over the child.

It's a shit situation, and really the zoo needs to perhaps consider having its dangerous animals behind a high plexiglass wall or mesh fence so that shit like this doesn't happen.

would you take the chance if it were your child, I wouldn't.

I think most people acknowledge that if you allow your child to end up in a gorilla's pen then there is a very strong chance they won't survive therefore they would prevent the situatation ever occurring.

The gorilla has paid the ultimate price for the parents allowing this to happen.